[hstudent]

Northern Rail feel that there are many passengers who get away without buying tickets, so want to install automated ticket gates similar to those used at stations like Liverpool James Street. The ticket gates will be installed at Manchester Oxford Road ,Piccadilly and Victoria, Blackpool North, Liverpool Lime Street, Bolton and Leeds.

By funding ticket gates Northern will also catch people who avoided purchasing a ticket while travelling on another companies service (not really their job). They will have to provide a member of staff as an alternative to the machines which will not accept the large types of tickets purchased over the internet or phone. Also for passengers who don’t want to risk the machine not giving back their season ticket or who need their ticket to claim compensation or to claim travel expenses back from their employers.

Some of the stations mentioned (Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds) don’t close overnight due to Manchester Airport to York services running through the night, while Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Airport trains start at 03:38, so Northern will have to provide staff in attendance to accommodate this.

Personally I think Northern would be better off by:
- Installing ticket machines at stations which have a ticket office where only one employee is present at any one time.
- Having longer opening hours on some existing ticket offices.
- Either opening a ticket office or installing a ticket machine at the most popular stations currently without facilities to purchase a ticket.
- Making sure conductors are checking tickets and using additional conductors on busy trains.